Residential gateway system having a handheld controller with a display for displaying video signals

ABSTRACT

A residential gateway system includes a residential gateway to which a plurality of video and audio signal recording and reproducing devices, video and audio sources, including satellite, cable, Internet, are connected, and including a handheld controller for communicating with and controlling the residential gateway. The handheld controller has a display screen for displaying icons for controlling the residential gateway, and for displaying video signals from the residential gateway. Since the display capabilities of the display screen of the handheld controller are limited, the residential gateway includes a transcoder for transcoding video signals for transmission to the handheld controller such that the transmitted video signals may be displayed in their entirety on the display screen of the handheld controller. By transcoding the video signals prior to transmission, valuable bandwidth of the network channel connecting the handheld controller to the residential gateway is save for the transmission of other information and signals.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The subject invention relates to a residential gateway for accessingvarious broadcast media as well as various storage and display media,and to a handheld device for communicating with and controlling saidresidential gateway.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The introduction of cable modems and broadband services to cabletelevision systems has given rise to the development of residentialgateway systems. These systems couple the digital and analog televisionhybrid fiber coax cables to telephones, computers, facsimile machines,set-top boxes, digital video recorders, etc., for bi-directional digitalcommunication with the suppliers of these services, and for receivingconventional analog downstream broadcasts. These systems can implementvideo on demand, broadband Internet access, monitoring of securitycamera video, interactive games, and a host of other applications.

Published U.S. Patent Application No. US 2002/0044225, published Apr.18, 2002, discloses such a system in which a handheld remote control,coupled to the residential gateway via infrared or radio frequency (RF)transmissions, is used to control the data processed by the residentialgateway and displayed on a display coupled to the residential gateway.As disclosed therein, the handheld remote control may include a displaywhereby the operator of the system is able to preview movies and theprograms on other channels before purchasing the movie or changing thechannel being viewed on the main display to the channel being previewedon the handheld remote control.

Published U.S. Patent Application No. US 2002/0002707, published Jan. 3,2002, also discloses such a system in which the handheld device may notbe capable of displaying the content of the received video stream in itsentirety, and therefore, presents a portion of the content on thecontained display.

In each of the above systems, the video stream in its entirety istransmitted to the handheld device, regardless of the capabilities ofthe handheld device. This exacts a high toll on the communicationschannel with the handheld device.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a residentialgateway system having a handheld controller for communicating with andcontrolling the residential gateway system, in which the communicationchannel between the residential gateway system and the handheldcontroller is used efficiently.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a residentialgateway system having a handheld controller for communicating with andcontrolling the residential gateway system, in which information isprovided to the handheld controller in a format desired by a particularuser.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a residentialgateway system having a handheld controller for communicating with andcontrolling the residential gateway system, in which, in response to apreference of a particular user, the residential gateway autonomouslyprovides information to the handheld device for display on the display.

This object is achieved in a residential gateway system comprising meansfor receiving broadcast video signals from a variety of sources; meansfor displaying video signals; a residential gateway coupled to saidreceiving means for selectively displaying video signals on said displaymeans; and a handheld controller having a display screen, said handheldcontroller being coupled to said residential gateway via a networkchannel for communicating with and controlling said residential gateway,wherein said residential gateway comprises means for storing attributesof said handheld controller and of said network channel; and transcodingmeans for transcoding video signals, in response to said storedattributes, for transmission on said network channel to said handheldcontroller, said transcoded video signals being capable of being handledby said network channel, and of being displayed on the display screen ofsaid handheld controller without further processing in said handheldcontroller.

Applicants have found that when the video signal in its entirety istransmitted to the handheld controller, when the handheld controllercannot display this video signal as such, the capacity of the networkchannel is being unnecessarily used, since the handheld controller musttranscode the video signal before being able to display the same. If thevideo signal is transcoded prior to transmission, other information,including other video signals may be simultaneously transmitted to (andfrom) the handheld controller up to the capacity of the network channel.

In an embodiment of the residential gateway system of the subjectinvention, the attributes of the network channel and the handheldcontroller comprise the bandwidth capabilities of the network channeland the display screen, including the resolution and refresh rate of thedisplay screen, and the transcoding means transcodes the video signalsto conform with at least the bandwidth of the display screen.

In such a residential gateway system, the transcoding means of theresidential gateway takes the bandwidth capabilities of the networkchannel and the display screen into consideration when transcoding thevideo signals. As such, the transmitted video signals are tailored tothe capabilites of the display screen of the handheld device andneedless information is not transmitted to the handheld device.

In a further embodiment of the residential gateway system of the subjectinvention, the residential gateway system further comprises means forstoring video signals and for playing back stored video signals, and thetranscoding means is additionally capable of transcoding stored videosignals by performing a video content analysis, and wherein the videocontent analysis comprises, alternatively, providing a series of stillimages and a text summarization of the stored video signals, andproviding a series of relevant video and audio.

In such a residential gateway system, a recording means and playbackmeans is included for recording and/or playing back recorded videosignals. As such, while the transcoding means may tailor the bandwidthof the recorded video signals transmitted to the display screen, thetranscoding means may alternatively analyze the video content of thestored video signal and supply, alternatively, a series of still imagesand a text summarization of the stored video signal, and a series ofrelevant video and audio clips of the stored video signal.

With the above and additional objects and advantages in mind as willhereinafter appear, the invention will be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a residential gateway system;

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the handheld controller and theresidential gateway in the residential gateway system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a layout of a portion of the memory in the handheld controllerof FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a proposed display on the display screen of the handheldcontroller when the handheld controller is turned on;

FIGS. 5A-5D show sample displays on the handheld controller in responseto the selected user and user profile; and

FIGS. 6A and 6B show sample displays on the handheld controller inresponse to selecting direct user control of the residential gatewaysystem.

As shown in FIG. 1, a residential gateway system includes a residentialgateway 10 having a bus 12 for connecting the residential gateway to atelevision receiver 14, a set-top box 16, a satellite receiver 18 andassociated satellite antenna 20, a DVD player 22, an audio system 24, atelephone 26, a cable television connection 28, a VCR 30, a digitalvideo recorder 32, a digital audio recorder 34, an analog audio recorder36 (for example, a cassette recorder), a facsimile machine 38 atelephone communication connection 40, and a personal computer (PC) 41.The residential gateway 10 is further provided with a connection to theInternet 42, and also includes a memory 44 connected thereto. It shouldbe understood that these devices are exemplary and that other devicesmay also, or alternatively, be connected to the residential gateway 10.

The residential gateway 10 further includes a transceiver 46 fortransmitting and receiving information over a network 48 to and from ahandheld controller 50 having a display screen 52. While the network 48is shown as being wireless, e.g., infrared or RF, the network may alsobe a wired connection.

The handheld device 50 further includes, as shown in FIG. 2, atransceiver 54 for receiving information from and applying informationto the network 48, and a processor 56 for processing the information andfor selectively applying video signals to the display 52. The handhelddevice 50 further includes a keyboard 58 for receiving instructions froma user, as well as a memory 60 for storing information. A loudspeaker 62is also provided for reproducing audio signals. Alternatively, aheadphone jack (not shown) may be provided for the reproduction of audiosignals.

The residential gateway 10 includes a processor 64 coupled to thetransceiver 46 for receiving, among other, broadcast video signals frombroadcast inputs, for example, the satellite receiver/antenna 18, 20,the set-top box 16, and the cable connection 28, and from stored inputs,for example, the DVD player 22, the VCR 30, and the digital videorecorder 32. The processor 64 has a memory 66 connected thereto forstoring information and a transcoder 68 for selectively transcodingvideo signals. Memory 66 may be the same as, or in addition to, memory44. The processor 64 selectively applies video signals to a display, forexample, television receiver 14, and information, which may includetranscoded video signals to the transceiver 46 for transmission to thehandheld controller 50.

The transcoder 68 performs a compression based media transcoding of theapplied video signal. For example, the resolution of an HDTV signal isreduced to that which is displayable by the display screen 52 of thehandheld controller 50. In the case of stored video signals, thetranscoder 68 relies on video content analysis. To that end, thetranscoded signal may include a series of still images and a texttranscript of the video content. Alternatively, the transcoded signalmay include a series of video clips summarizing the important moments ofthe video content. Further, via the connections to the Internet 42, thesatellite receiver 18 and antenna 20, the cable 28 and the telephoneline 40, the residential gateway 10 has access to news, weather, trafficand other live information. To that end, the transcoder 68 transcodesthis information by generating a text streamer for application to thedisplay screen 52 of the handheld controller 50.

It is envisioned that the residential gateway system may be used byvarious members in a family residing in the residence. To that end, itwould be desirable if the display on the display screen 52 of thehandheld controller 50 were tailored to the desires of the variousfamily members. FIG. 3 shows an graphical organization of the memory 60in the handheld controller 50. The memory 60 includes a profiles section70 for storing the profiles 72-78 of, for example, 4 different users.FIG. 4 shows a display on the display screen 52 of the handheldcontroller 50, which in this case is touch sensitive. When the handheldcontroller 50 is turned on, the display screen 52 displays the message80 “WHO ARE YOU?” along with 4 icons 82-88, corresponding to the storedprofiles 72-78, respectively. When the user touches the appropriateicon, the corresponding profile is transmitted to the residentialgateway 10 for storage in the memory 66. After selecting the appropriateicon 82-88, the handheld controller 50 begins displaying transcodedvideo images in accordance with the profile of the selected user icon.

FIGS. 5A-5D shows sample images on display screen 52 corresponding tovarious modes of the transcoder 68. In particular, in FIG. 5A, a storedvideo signal has been selected and the transcoder 68 provides a sequenceof still images or video clips 90 as well as a text summary 92 of thestored video program. In FIG. 5B, a currently broadcast video signal 94is being viewed, while a live update text streamer 96 is displayed atthe bottom of the display screen 52 giving, for example, stock quotes,the latest news headlines, weather, traffic conditions, sports scores,etc. In FIG. 5C, a currently broadcast video signal 98 is beingdisplayed, while the audio portion is reproduced through the loudspeaker62. In FIG. 5D, the currently broadcast video signal 98 of FIG. 5C isdisplayed. Instead of the audio portion being reproduced, closed captionsub-titling 100 is shown.

The residential gateway uses an optimization method to determine thebest media rendering from all of the parameters of the input devices aswell as the network 48 and the handheld controller 50, for example,screen size, resolution, processing power, battery life, availablenetwork bandwidth, user priorities for topics, time of day, location,available time for watching previews (e.g., visual table of contents)and full-length videos. This may include a weighted scheme for thedifferent parameters, where the preference for user's priority has ahigher weight than other parameters.

It should be understood that the handheld controller 50 may be used inthe classical sense of directly controlling the operation of theresidential gateway system. To that end, by operating an appropriatebutton on the keyboard 58, the display screen 52 may then show iconsrepresenting all of the components attached to the residential gateway10 (see FIG. 6A). For convenience, FIG. 6A shows the icons as the primedreference numbers of the components 14-41 shown in FIG. 1 connected tothe residential gateway 10 via the bus 12. If, for example, the userselects the digital video recorder 32 by touching the icon 32′, a newdisplay is shown on the display screen 52. As shown in FIG. 6B, alisting and summarization of all the stored video programs is displayedas separate icons 102, 104, 106, 108 and 110. Once the program isselected, the user may then have the selected video program displayed onthe television receiver 14, or displayed on the display screen 52 of thehandheld controller 50, at which the transcoder 68 transcodes the storedvideo signal to the bandwidth of the display screen 52 and theresidential gateway 10 transmits the transcoded video signal to thehandheld controller 50 using the transceiver 46.

The handheld controller 50 is able to get an overview with audio-visualsummaries of all the programs on, for example, the digital videorecorder 32, and the movies/pages on the PC 41. These summaries may begenerated by the input device itself (the digital video recorder 32 orthe PC 41) or by the processor 64. The user of the handheld controller50 may then use these audio-visual summaries to decide what to watch,what to delete and what else to record. In addition, if a visual tableof contents is available for the programs (for example, in metadataaccompanying the video signal or accessed from a pertinent Internetsite), then the user can identify sub-segments (scenes) of the programthat should be deleted and which portions should be kept on the device.This feature may also be used to “lock” certain programs andsub-segments of programs from a parental control point of view. As such,a parent can predetermine which visual scenes should be deleted and thenmake the “edited) movie available for general viewing in the household.This is handy because the viewing area of the handheld controller 50 isrelatively small and private. The parent can then watch the movie withdeleted scenes on the handheld controller 50. In addition, the user candecide to highlight, bookmark or e-mail certain portions to other usersbased on the marked scenes in the visual table of contents.

Numerous alterations and modifications of the structure herein disclosedwill present themselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is tobe understood that the above described embodiment is for purposes ofillustration only and not to be construed as a limitation of theinvention. All such modification which do not depart from the spirit ofthe invention are intended to be included within the scope of theappended claims.

1. A residential gateway system comprising: means (18, 20, 28, 42) forreceiving broadcast video signals from a variety of sources; means (14)for displaying video signals; a residential gateway (10) coupled to saidreceiving means (18, 20, 28, 42) for selectively displaying videosignals on said display means (14); a handheld controller (50) having adisplay screen (52), said handheld controller (50) being coupled to saidresidential gateway (10) via a network channel (48) for communicatingwith and controlling said residential gateway (10), wherein saidresidential gateway (10) comprises: means (44, 66) for storingattributes of said handheld controller (50) and of said network channel(48); and transcoding means (68) for transcoding video signals, inresponse to said stored attributes, for transmission on said networkchannel (48) to said handheld controller (50), said transcoded videosignals being capable of being handled by said network channel (48), andof being displayed on the display screen (52) of said handheldcontroller (50) without further processing in said handheld controller(50).
 2. The residential gateway system as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid attributes of said network channel (48) and said handheldcontroller (50) comprise the bandwidth capabilities of the networkchannel (48) and the display screen (52), including the resolution andrefresh rate of the display screen (52), screen size, processing power,and battery life, and the transcoding means (68) transcodes the videosignals to conform with at least the bandwidth of the display screen(52).
 3. The residential gateway system as claimed in claim 2, whereinsaid residential gateway system further comprises means (22, 30, 32, 41)for storing video signals and for playing back stored video signals, andsaid transcoding means (68) is capable of transcoding stored videosignals by performing a video content analysis.
 4. The residentialgateway system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said video contentanalysis comprises, alternatively, providing a series of still imagesand a text summarization of the stored video signals, and providing aseries of relevant video clips and audio clips.
 5. The residentialgateway system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said residential gatewaysystem further comprises means (18, 20, 28, 42) for receiving news,weather, traffic and other live information, and said transcending means(68) is capable of transcoding said live information in the form of atext streamer for transmission to said handheld controller.
 6. Theresidential gateway system as claimed in claim 4, wherein said handheldcontroller (50) further comprises a memory (60) for storing profileinformation concerning a plurality of users of said handheld controller(50), said profile information including guidelines of which transcodingprocess is desired by the selected user.
 7. The residential gatewaysystem as claimed in claim 5, wherein said handheld controller (50)further comprises a memory (60) for storing profile informationconcerning a plurality of users of said handheld controller (50), saidprofile information including guidelines of which transcoding process isdesired by the selected user, and wherein said residential gateway (10)comprises means for autonomously providing said transcoded text streamerto said handheld controller (50) based on a priority setting in saiduser profile.
 8. The residential gateway system as claimed in claim 6,wherein said profile information includes user priorities for topics,time of day, location, available time for watching previews andfull-length videos, said residential gateway (10) using the attributesof the network channel (48) and the handheld controller (50), as well asattributes of the video signals, in a weighting scheme along with saiduser priorities for determining the transcoding process to be performedby the trancoding means (68), wherein said user priorities are highestweighted.
 9. The residential gateway system as claimed in claim 3,wherein the residential gateway (10) provides audio-visual summaries ofthe video signals stored on the video signal storing and playback means(22, 30, 32, 41), said audio-visual summaries including imagesrepresenting scenes in the video signals.
 10. The residential gatewaysystem as claimed in claim 3, wherein the residential gateway (10)provides a table of contents for each of the programs represented byvideo signals stored by the video signal recording and playback means(22, 30, 32, 41), said transcoding means (68) transcoding said table ofcontents for said handheld controller (50), said handheld controller(50) displaying said table of contents, and said handheld controller(50) having means (56) for selectively deleting selected portions of aselected one of the programs thereby forming an edited program, saidedited program being subsequently displayed on said displaying means(14).
 11. The residential gateway system as claimed in claim 10, whereinsaid table of contents is stored with the video signals of each of theprograms.
 12. The residential gateway system as claimed in claim 10,wherein said table of contents is obtained from the Internet by theresidential gateway system.
 13. The residential gateway system asclaimed in claim 10, wherein said handheld controller (50) compriseslock-out means (56) for locking out selected programs or portions ofprograms from being viewed on the displaying means (14) or on thehandheld controller (50).